120 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



Alleghanies are crowded with wealfh. New- York lifts up her 

 towering hills of solid iron. Vermont turns out her veined and 

 delicate marble, and her purple slate. The great lake beats on 

 a copper shore. The western slope of the Appalachian range, 

 and the vast valley beyond, are filled with wonderful deposits, 

 while the dreams of avai'ice and the visions of fancy are more 

 than realized in the uncounted gold that glows along the rivers 

 of the West, and veins the rocks of the Nevada. Our manufac- 

 turing resources, therefore, packed within our hills, are equal to 

 our agricultural; marked by Providence is this great land, for 

 every variety of production, for every source of opulence, and 

 for every description of labor. 



But I would glance at the field of invention, which seems the 

 peculiar favorite of American genius. 



This serial edifice has hitherto stretched its roof of glass over 

 the choicest results of the ingenuity of every nation. It was an 

 epitome of the industry of the world. Those curious strangers 

 have disappeared. They have gone to the homes where they 

 were spoken into being, to relate the story of their visit to the 

 Western world. There places are filled with the products of 

 American skill. Our eyes rest solely upon the acliievements of 

 our own genius. As we glance along these aisles, we leai-n what 

 our own country has been doing; what contributions she has 

 brought to the benefit of the race. Here are our representatives. 

 This is our Congress. By these let us be judged. No prouder 

 triumph need we ask than that of being foremost in evoking the 

 powers and capacities of nature to the aid of man. This is the 

 great battle-field in which we would seek for victory, where con- 

 tests do not result in human misery. No groans salute the ear; 

 no dismembered bodies cover the ground; no shouts of armies 

 frighten the air; nor in such contests are treasures expended, 

 friends bereaved, cities razed, or blight and desolation spread 

 over the land. Whoever is victorious, there is no enemy to suJBfer, 

 and all are benefited by the success of each. 



One cannot help observing, as he visits the numerous models 

 you have called together, how American invention fixes its gaze 

 upon the substantial objects to be achieved. It wastes no time on 

 forms adapted merely to please the eye. Its energies are not 

 expended in the creation of the beautiful. It devotes itself to 

 the utilities. We live in a land where great work is to be done; 

 and the best mode of doing that work, is the j^roblem that our 

 inventors are busy in solving. How shall the wilderness be 



